Conservative columnist appointed to ABC board

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Conservative newspaper columnist and former lawyer Janet
Albrechtsen has been appointed to the board of the ABC,
Communications Minister Helen Coonan said today.

Ms Albrechtsen, a columnist for The Australian newspaper,
will serve on the board for five years.

Ms Albrechtsen has been a regular target of ABC TV's Media
Watch program, which has questioned whether she has plagiarised
in some of her columns.

In turn, Ms Albrechtsen has accused the program of using
"reprehensible means to shut down debate and smear the reputations
of those with opinions it dislikes".

"It is a parody of upholding journalistic standards," she wrote
in 2002.

Ms Albrechtsen was also the subject of some notorious comments
by former opposition leader Mark Latham, who used parliamentary
privilege to call her a "skanky ho" - an American slang term
meaning "smelly whore".

Before joining The Australian, Ms Albrechtsen worked for
Fairfax newspapers including The Australian Financial Review
and The Sydney Morning Herald and Quadrant
magazine.

She also previously worked as a solicitor with law firm
Freehill, Hollingdale and Page where she specialised in banking,
finance, corporate and securities law.

Senator Coonan announced her appointment along with the news
current board member, barrister John Gallagher, had been
reappointed to the ABC board for another three years.

"I am confident that Mr Gallagher will continue to make valuable
contributions to the ABC and that Ms Albrechtsen's skills and
experience will prove a worthwhile asset to the ABC," Senator
Coonan said.